Management Team
EcoCeres is founded and led by a team of experienced, accomplished and entrepreneurial experts, who share the goal of making a lasting impact on the energy sector and the world.
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Mr Matti LIEVONENExecutive Chairman- Mr. Matti Lievonen joined EcoCeres as the Executive Chairman since January 2024, heading the Board of Directors of EcoCeres.
- Mr. Lievonen is a prominent and well-respected Finnish business executive known for his contributions to the energy sector with an illustrious career spanning several decades. Prior to joining EcoCeres, he is most recognized for his tenure as the CEO and President of Neste Corporation.
- Prior to joining Neste, Lievonen held various executive positions at Finnish UPM Biofore Corporation. He has also served on the board of directors for several organizations, including Chairman of Fortum Finnish Energy Company, SSAB, Vice Chairman Global steel company, Solvay global chemical company, and the Confederation of Finnish Industries.
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Mr Philip SIUCo-founder & Vice Chairman- Mr Siu is an energy industry veteran with decades of experience and insights. He joined The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) in 1985 and was the Key Initiator of its gas utility business in Mainland China.
- He became the Founding Initiator & Chief of Towngas’ ECO Energy Business in Hong Kong in 2000. As a trailblazing leader of Towngas’ renewable energy arm, he presided over the design, building and operation of the company’s Permanent Aviation Fuel Facility and LPG refilling stations.
- At Towngas, he was appointed General Manager of Marketing in 2003 and in 2008 became the Co-founding Initiator & Chief of the ECO New Energy Business, which later evolved into EcoCeres.
- Mr Siu received a BA and an MA in Engineering at the University of Cambridge as a Prince Philip Scholar. He obtained an MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He is also a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.
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Mr James NIChief Executive Officer- Mr. James Ni joined EcoCeres as the Chief Executive Officer since April 2024, to drive the company’s innovation and technological advancement, while maintaining our focus on developing sustainable solutions to achieve carbon neutrality.
- Prior to joining EcoCeres, Mr. Ni was Senior Global Vice President of Trinseo, a global materials solutions provider and manufacturer of plastics, engineering materials, and latex binders. Ni leads global Latex Binders business as well as the Global Marketing and Commercial Excellence function.
- In his time at Trinseo, Mr. Ni also remained Managing Director, Asia Pacific (APAC), a position held since 2017, in which he provides leadership across the region in driving critical priorities and growth projects.
- Mr. Ni joined Trinseo as Business Director back in 2010. Prior to joining Trinseo, he worked as Sales Director at Dow Chemical since 1995. During his 15-year tenure there, Ni has held different roles (product marketing, business development, financial analyst, account manager) and was promoted several times and acquired extensive knowledge and experience in resin, polymers and latex business both in Asia and in the US.
- Mr. Ni is an advisory board member of the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM), a representative body of Responsible Care program in China.
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Mr Dannis POONEVP, Operation (Bio-Grease Utilisation)- Mr Poon has more than 25 years’ experience in the energy industry including Upstream E&P Operations, Project & Facility Management, Supply Chain Management and Trading Operation. He has especially extensive knowledge in the Renewable Energy and Fuels sector and related policies.
- He joined Towngas in 1997 and ECO New Energy Business in 2008, and is a key member of the Biomass Business Platform of EcoCeres.
- Mr Poon served as the Co-Chair (Asia) of the ISCC Technical Stakeholder Committee “Waste, Residues and Advanced Low Carbon Fuels” from 2019 to 2021. He is also a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong.
- Mr Poon graduated from the University of Hong Kong in the Engineering discipline and received an MBA at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Mr Paul CHEUNGEVP, CFO- Mr Cheung joined EcoCeres as the Chief Financial Officer since Feb 2023. He is responsible for leading the company’s financial functions and teams, including budgeting, financial planning and analysis, accounting and reporting, corporate finance as well as tax and treasury.
- He has over 20 years of financial management experiences. Before joining EcoCeres, Mr. Cheung was a partner at Ernst & Young from 2011 to 2023 and held management position within the firm.
- Mr. Cheung is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) and serves as the Vice President of Northern China Managing Committee of CPA Australia. He is also a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Information System Auditor.
- Mr Cheung received his Bachelor of Social Sciences degree at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He also holds a MBA degree concentrated in finance and accounting at the University of Rochester and a Master of Information Technology degree at the University of Newcastle.
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Mr Jeremy BAINESEVP, Commercial- Mr. Jeremy Baines joined EcoCeres as the Chief Commercial Officer in January 2024, leading change and driving growth of the company.
- Mr. Baines brings extensive experience and knowledge of the renewable energy industry, having worked in various senior roles in the rapidly expanding industry over the past two decades, achieving notable milestones in general management, trading, sales and customer origination, marketing and business development.
- Prior to joining EcoCeres, Baines was Executive Vice President – Customers, Trading, and Commercial Optimization at VARO Energy Group (“VARO”) and President of Neste US in Houston, Texas. Earlier in his career, he had various commercial and leadership roles in London, Brussels, Geneva and Houston.
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Dr. Tiffany WONGSVP, General Counsel- Dr. Wong joined EcoCeres as the Head of Legal Affairs in April 2022. She has the overall responsibility for EcoCeres’ legal and compliance functions.
- Dr. Wong has been in the legal industry for over 20 years, specializing in a wide range of corporate finance and commercial legal work including M&A transactions; capital market transactions; corporate, commercial and regulatory advisory.
- Prior to joining EcoCeres, Dr. Wong was the former Head of Legal of the Greater China region of a Tokyo-listed multinational corporation. She practised law in leading international law firms including Linklaters and Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong and Beijing.
- Dr. Wong is a Hong Kong Solicitor, admitted to practise in Hong Kong and England & Wales. She studied law at The University of Melbourne and The University of Hong Kong, and obtained Doctor of Business Administration degree from City University of Hong Kong. Dr. Wong has also been appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Department of Economics and Finance, City University of Hong Kong.
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Ms Jing MASVP, Human Resource- Jing joined EcoCeres as the Chief Human Resources Officer in April 2023. She is responsible for developing and implementing organization and talent strategy in support of sustainable growth of the company. She is dedicated to increasing the competitiveness of the company by optimizing employee engagement, retention, recruitment and overall satisfaction of the working environment.
- Before EcoCeres, Jing built and led the global HR team for Xiaomi International Business. Prior to this, she served in various international roles with Apple in different locations including California, US and Beijing, China. Previously, she accumulated her diversified HR expertise in Human Resources Management and Labor Relations with Lenovo and United Technologies Corporation.
- Jing holds a Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Bachelor of Law from Sichuan International Studies University. She is a certified Professional Integral Coach since 2017.
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Mr Ryan CHIUSVP, Tech & Engineering- Prior to becoming Chief Technology Officer of EcoCeres, Mr Chiu joined ECO New Energy Business in 2011 as a Management Trainee. He received extensive training in various functions/departments of Towngas and ECO Energy Business. He is a key member of the EcoCeres Biomass Business Platform.
- Mr Chiu oversees the development and management of the Company’s technology portfolio for Bio-Grease Utilization. He also oversees the engineering design activities of new CAPEX projects of the company.
- Mr Chiu is a Chartered Engineer of Engineering Council UK and a Chartered Member of Energy Institute and Institution of Engineering and Technology.
- Mr Chiu graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with BEng in Chemical Engineering and BBA in General Business Management. He received an MSc in Engineering Enterprise Management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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Mr Kevin LeeSenior Vice President – Corporate Development & Strategy- Mr Kevin Lee joined EcoCeres as Senior Vice President – Corporate Development & Strategy since July 2024. He is responsible for driving the company’s aggressive growth agenda through strategy, investments and M&A. Mr Lee also leads the company’s comprehensive ESG program.
- Mr. Kevin Lee has over 20 years’ experience in industrial and chemicals industry. He is a specialist in clean energy with extensive experience in developing and executing market entry for renewables.
- Prior to joining Ecoceres, Kevin was Chief Commercial Officer for Honeywell’s Performance Materials & Technologies, Asia Pacific and Vice President of Strategic Marketing for Linde Asia Pacific. Kevin has held various board positions including Chairman of Yilan clean energy.
- Kevin holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and Masters of Finance from University of NSW, Australia. He also completed his MBA at the Australian Graduate School of Management.
